1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to methods for high throughput screening of fuel compositions.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of a combinatorial approach for materials synthesis is a relatively new area of research aimed at using rapid synthesis and screening methods to build libraries of polymeric, inorganic or solid state materials. For example, advances in reactor technology have empowered chemists and engineers to rapidly produce large libraries of discrete organic molecules in the pursuit of new drug discovery, which have led to the development of a growing branch of research called combinatorial chemistry. Combinatorial chemistry generally refers to methods and materials for creating collections of diverse materials or compounds—commonly known as libraries—and to techniques and instruments for evaluating or screening libraries for desirable properties.
Presently, research in the fuel industry involves individually forming candidate fuel compositions and then performing a macro-scale analysis of the candidate compositions by employing a large amount of the candidate to be tested. Additionally, the methods employed for testing each candidate composition require manual operation. This, in turn, significantly reduces the number of compositions that can be tested and identified as leading compositions.
However, present research in the fuel industry does not allow for reformulation to occur in an expeditious manner. As such, there exists a need in the art for a more efficient, economical and systematic approach for the preparation of fuel compositions and screening of such compositions. For example, fuel compositions have deposit forming tendencies from, for example, the combustion of fuel in an internal combustion engine. This will result in the formation and accumulation of deposits on various parts of the combustion chamber and on the fuel intake and exhaust systems of the engine. The presence of these deposits in the combustion chamber often result in the following problems: (1) reduction in the operating efficiency of the engine; (2) inhibition in the heat transfer between the combustion chamber and the engine cooling system; and (3) reduction in the volume of the combustion zone which can cause a higher than design compression ratio in the engine. A knocking engine can also result from deposits forming and accumulating in the combustion chamber. A prolonged period of a knocking engine can result in stress fatigue and wear in engine components such as, for example, pistons, connecting rods bearings and cam rods.
The formation and accumulation of intake valve deposits can interfere with valve closing which eventually can result in valve burning. Such deposits can also interfere with valve motion and valve seating which tend to reduce the volumetric efficiency of the engine and limit the maximum design power. Deposits can also collect in the tubes and runners that are part of the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) flow. The collection of these deposits can reduce the EGR flow. This will also result in a knocking engine and an increase in nitric oxide emissions.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to rapidly screen a plurality of sample candidate fuel compositions for deposit formation tendencies utilizing small amounts of each sample. In this manner, a high throughput preparation and screening of a vast number of diverse compositions can be achieved to identify which additives and/or compositions have reduced deposit formation tendencies.